Todd Sampson returns to the 10 Network this week for the new season of Mirror Mirror. The two-part series Mirror Mirror: Love & Hate, will air on Monday, October 10 and Tuesday, October 11, at 7.30pm on 10 and 10 Play.
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Mirror Mirror kicked off last year as the series explored the societal crisis of body image dissatisfaction and the manipulative trillion-dollar industry that profits from it. Over the two nights, Sampson lifted the lid on the beauty industry and explored how people’s obsession with looks is exploited by the fitness, diet, and pornography industries and how an image-obsessed culture can easily lead to disorder.
Mediaweek caught up with Sampson to discuss what viewers can expect from the new series, who said that expanding Mirror Mirror was always part of his plan.
See also: Why Todd Sampson returned for more Mirror Mirror
What to expect from Mirror Mirror: Love and Hate
When discussing the show, one situation in particular featuring the popular online platform Omegle came up. While understanding that the situation might seem controversial, Sampson said that the purpose of the show isn’t to push the envelope.
“We’re on the borderline there. We went with a former police officer who was dedicated to cybersecurity and a actress who played a 14 year old, who was actually 19. We went on Omegle, and it was unbelievable. She was groomed within 10 minutes and there was someone masturbating and at one stage, I couldn’t take it anymore.
“I shouldn’t have done it, but it’s not on camera, I ran to the front of the camera and said, “you should be in fucking prison”. He went blank on the screen. and then I went back to controlling what was being said, and the actors couldn’t see anything. As I got back, he went back to masturbating, and it’s the same fellow who tried to groom me on WhatsApp. This is all within 10 minutes of being on the app.
“The intent is not to be shocking or even to push the envelope. Young kids watching that will have known about this for years, so that’s not the point. The point is to explore the world in a way that has impact and in a way that’s practical for people so that they can learn what they can do, as opposed to just feeling paralysed.”
Created and written by Todd Sampson, Mirror Mirror: Love & Hate is a Baltimore Films production for Network 10.
Mirror Mirror: Love & Hate starts Monday, 10 October and continues Tuesday, 11 October, 7.30pm on 10 and 10 Play.